Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries, #5)(42)

“It’s not the same thing,” she protested.

“Isn’t it?” Ball countered.

She stubbornly shook her head.

“Let me help you,” Ball pleaded. “We don’t have to date. Believe it or not, I understand your reluctance. But let me help you get Elise settled. As I suggested before, she can come over to my house after school and continue to help me with signing. I’ll make sure she does her homework and that she stays off the internet. If I have to go on a mission, I’ll get Allye, Chloe, or one of the others to stay with her.”

“But I don’t even know them,” Everly protested.

“Then I’ll introduce you. Allye’s pregnant, and she’s already in that mothering stage where she loves everyone. She’s going to adore Elise . . . not that the others won’t.”

Everly closed her eyes and put her head back on Ball’s shoulder. “I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah, Ev. My last relationship crashed and burned, and what do I know about teenage girls?

Nothing. But I’m willing to give this a try. If you’re hesitating because of me, all you have to do is say so. The last thing I want is to find out in a few months that the chemistry I’m feeling is one-sided. I’ll still introduce you to the other women, and they’ll still do what they can to help. Rex will still bend over backward to get to the bottom of what happened and take down whoever’s responsible.

Accepting help from me doesn’t come with strings.”

She sat up . . . and then boldly straddled his lap.

Surprised, Ball gripped her hips to steady her.

“I’m not hesitating because of you . . . Well, not in the way you mean. I just . . . I was scared by how much I came to rely on you when we were in LA. I’ve never been that way with anyone else in my life, and it worried me. I don’t want to become one of those women who can’t do anything without checking with her boyfriend first. Who can’t make decisions on her own.”

Ball couldn’t help it. He laughed.

Everly glared at him. “I’m being serious here.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. But Ev, I have no doubt you’ll never be that kind of woman. One of the things I admire most about you is the fact that you don’t need me. Holly rarely made decisions on her

own. I had to decide what we would eat for dinner, when to go to the grocery store, where we were going on dates, who was driving anywhere. It was exhausting.”

Everly studied him for a moment longer, then sagged into him.

Ball held her close to his chest and shifted to put his feet up on the coffee table in front of him.

He couldn’t believe how well they fit together. “Give me a chance, Ev,” he said quietly. “Give us a chance.”

She nodded, and Ball felt as if he’d just won the lottery.

They sat in silence on her couch, just enjoying each other’s company for a long while. So long that Ball felt the moment when Everly became deadweight in his arms. She’d fallen asleep.

Shifting as slowly as possible so he didn’t wake her up, Ball shoved a pillow under his head and relaxed into the couch. He had no idea how long she’d sleep that way, but he wasn’t going to do anything to wake her up. She needed rest, and he’d do whatever he could to help her get it.

Closing his eyes, Ball sent up a silent prayer that things would work out. Elise would heal, Everly would learn to trust him, and Rex would figure out if there was still a threat against Elise. For now, he was going to treasure the trust Everly had given him by letting down her guard enough to fall asleep in his arms.

In her room, Elise covered her head with her blankets and turned on her phone. It was new. Everly had bought it for her the day they’d arrived in Colorado Springs. It was also a newer version than her old one, so that was cool.

She clicked on the app store and downloaded a calculator app.

But it wasn’t a calculator at all. Rob had told her about the secret app so they could talk without worrying about anyone sticking their noses into their business. At the time, she’d thought it sweet and somewhat daring. Now, it just seemed creepy.

But she couldn’t help but wonder if what happened didn’t have anything to do with Rob. The boy she’d thought she knew was sweet, and he’d always been ultraconcerned about her.

Trapped in that house, she’d been convinced Rob didn’t exist. She knew Everly and Ball were also sure the person she’d been talking to for all those months was the same one who’d kidnapped her.

Now, safe in Colorado Springs . . . Elise couldn’t help but hope they were all wrong.

She had to know one way or another.

Trusting Everly was either asleep or still talking to Ball, she clicked on the icon for the messaging app and logged in.

What she saw horrified her.

Not only were the last messages she and Rob had sent to each other still there, but he’d written to her after she’d been rescued as well.

Rob: I’m excited about meeting u 2day.

Elise: Me 2.

Rob: Meet me across from that gas station near your school.

Elise: OK.

Rob: Elise?

Elise: Yeah?

Rob: I love you.

Elise: I love you too.

Rob: C u soon.

That had been the last message she’d seen before she’d been kidnapped. The next ones were dated the day after she’d been rescued.